Apple Mac Mini Mc408ll a Snow Leopard Server

Apple Mac Mini Mc408ll a Snow Leopard Server
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I love all 7 of my Macs that I use regularly from portables to 8 cores. I even like the MacMini very much. If you have a spare monitor keyboard and mouse it is a most capable machine to have for the kitchen basement or for the kids. With 4GB RAM the performance is good and of course you get all the benefits of OS X its software stability ease of use etc. The MacMini hardware is worth the money given the performance. (The server version has no CD/DVD. I bought an ASUS USB external which works but not reliably especially if all the USB ports are in use and they fill quickly. The power supply for the MacMini USB ports is not over-engineered.) But this review is for the SERVER edition of the Mini which basically means I'm commenting on the software. I have been hosting my own domain (web mail DNS file server firewall DHCP etc.) on a standard Mac for about 8 years very successfully and on a Mac running some sort of Linux before that. I bought OS X 10.4 Server (Tiger) a number of years ago but it was unusable. With 10.6 out I hoped that improvements would make server management easier - analogous to OS X (desktop) versus Windows. Though 10.6 Server is substantially improved over 10.4 Server it still is a royal pain. The server edition of OS X contains a user interface (GUI) intended to simplify the configuration of unix software - pretty much the same software is installed for both desktop and server versions of OS X hidden in the unix directories. Almost any unix programs on the server but missing from the desktop can be downloaded and installed for free. (There may be exceptions for particular features like pod-cast production that you'd need to investigate specifically.) Ordinary folks who want to host a vanity site at home or share a file server among a few desktops in a small office will find OS X Server daunting and frustrating. If you do not already know how to configure DNS/BIND you will struggle from the outset - I have a pretty good sense and still had a hard time. Many of the "aids" that OS X Server provides are just different enough from standard unix/linux conventions that you can't easily get under the hood to tweak it - the documentation may be clearly written but is woefully incomplete regarding details and sometimes inaccurate. OS X Server may support all the features described in their promotional literature but in no way is it intuitive to configure or manage (in the same way OS X desktop is). For example the "Internet Sharing" feature of OS X automatically rolls together DHCP NAT IP routing firewall functions and the like. The Server edition requires configuration of each. True it is MUCH more flexible but you need to be a unix/network wizard to get it to work in all but the simplest configurations. Before purchasing this product I advise downloading and reading all the manuals; there are 7 or 8 of them available at Apple for free. You can decide for yourself your comfort level based on them. Start with a detailed list of requirements for your needs (e.g. hosting more than one web or email domain) then look through the manuals for the information you need to configure it. Plan on needing to reinstall and start from scratch several times before getting it close. Take notes by hand so you remember what you need to do and not do. If you only need basic services (web site email file sharing) I'd recommend a standard OS X machine MacMini or otherwise plus a few very affordable utilities from CutEdge Software which require minimal user sophistication. If you need some of the fancy features of OS X Server you will need considerable expertise in server and network administration so much that free alternatives running on Macs or cheaper hardware begin to look attractive. In fact if you are at that level you may be frustrated by the idiosyncratic and inconsistent use of Apple (e.g. /System/Library or /Network) versus unix (/etc or /usr/bin/) file location conventions. Sometimes they're integrated or compatible sometimes not. You could be looking at a big investment of time to figure it out for any given issue. You should also be aware that unlike the desktop OS anytime there is a major OS Server revision (e.g. Leopard to Snow Leopard) you have to buy a new license at full price. There is no upgrade path. Bottom line: This is a fine computer (5 stars) but the extra ~$300-400 for the software is not worth it (a half-star). For basic domain hosting on Macs easier cheaper alternatives exist. If you require OS X Server's more advanced features you probably should be using more robust hardware than a MacMini ... and you are looking at a big investment of time to learn how to configure/manage them equivalent to the effort required to learn other server software which is available for free.